Family
by Vanessa Gordon
Summary: Warp sends Starfire into the future again.  Will the future be dark like last time, or have the Titans manged to stay together?


**A/N: I don't own anything in the DC universe, or mentioned in this story. Also, I'd like to apologise for anything that goes against cannon, it's probably me just being wrong. **

A yellow-suited man stood in the middle of a museum, throwing his loot into a bag. He finished and turned to leave, only to find his way blocked by five teenagers. The one in front, a rather short boy with a traffic-light outfit and a thin mask, held up a thin metal pipe, which extended to a long staff.

"Going somewhere?" he asked. Behind him, the tall one, half glowing blue metal, transformed his arm into a cannon, the red-haired girl hovering above them's eyes began to glow green, the small green guy changed into a gorilla, and the dark cloaked figure rose up into the air.

"Ah, the Titans," Warp said, discretely reaching into his bag, "Looking younger than last time." The Titans tensed, knowing he was referring to the time he'd sent Starfire, the red-haired girl, into a future where the Titans were separate and alone.

"Just drop it," Cyborg, the half metal one, advised. "Before we actually get angry."

"I'm not worried," Warp said, drawing his device from his bag in a quick and fluid motion. However, Robin, the spiky haired kid, was faster, knocking Warp over with his staff and jumping forward. He pressed the button on the side of the device, sending a bright beam of light at Robin.

"Robin!" Starfire yelled, swooping down and intercepting the beam. There was a blinding flash of light, and Starfire was gone. Warp tried to get up and run away, but found his face held to the ground by Robin.

"Where did you send her?" he demanded, his voice dangerous. Warp didn't respond, so he shoved his face more firmly into the carpet. "What did you do?"

*)(*

Starfire was standing in the middle of a dark alleyway. She looked around quickly. _What had Warp done?_ She swooped up into the sky, only to be met with an unfamiliar skyline. There was no coast, no bay, no Titan Tower. She landed on a roof to collect her thoughts. Warp dealt with time travel, so she was probably in the future, or the past. But where? When?

"Hello," a voice said from directly behind her. She jumped, whirling around to find a tall figure, dressed in a black cowl and cape, and a grey suit with a black bat on the chest. Starfire grinned.

"Hello friend Batman!"

"Starfire? What are you doing here?" Batman asked. His voice was slightly different than the last time she'd met him, though admittedly she hadn't talked to him much. It was less serious somehow.

"I must have been teleported here," she said. "Warp hit me with some sort of device, and next thing I knew I was here." Batman frowned slightly.

"Why don't you come back to the Batcave?" he suggested.

"I should probably just go back to Jump," Starfire replied. "The Titans will be most worried about my disappearance."

"I don't think that's the best idea," Batman replied. "Come on, we should talk." Starfire frowned for a second, then smiled and nodded. After all, she didn't want to seem rude. Batman turned and led her to the batmobile. The batmobile was different than she remembered, much more sleek.

"I see you have updated the batmobile," she said. Batman nodded, walking over and climbing into the driver's side. They drove through the streets, and Starfire realized she didn't recognize the scenery. She had only been to Gotham once, but she assumed she would recognize something.

"Starfire, you don't happen to know what the date is, do you?" Batman asked.

"Well, I believe it was Thursday, because the Titans were going to go out for pizza…" she stopped at Batman's frustrated groan. "What is wrong?"

"Starfire, it's ten years in the future," he said. Starfire frowned.

"But, the last time I was sent to the past, I was in Jump!" she exclaimed frantically.

"Warp had updated his technology," Batman said, getting out of the batmobile. Starfire started, as she hadn't realized they'd arrived, but she quickly got out and followed. They walked into the Batcave, but Starfire didn't recognize this either. The whole thing was more technologically advanced, plus a couch had been added in along with a couple arm chairs. At a large computer console sat a red-haired woman, who spun around upon their entrance, revealing she was in fact sitting in a wheelchair. She pushed her glasses up on her nose and smiled at them.

"Hello, Starfire," the woman said, smiling warmly. Starfire was taken by surprise, but grinned back enthusiastically, always friendly. "She doesn't recognize me."

"Give her a break, Babs," Batman replied. Starfire's face lit up.

"Friend Batgirl!" she exclaimed, flying forward and consuming her in a giant hug. She let go and glanced down at her. "What happened to you?" Batgirl smiled in a slightly forced manner.

"Occupational hazard," she replied before turning to Batman. "You've only got half an hour you know." Batman frowned.

"Do I really have to?"

"Yes, you do," Batgirl replied. "I can deal with things here for an hour. Tell them I'm sorry I couldn't come."

"Lucky," Batman called over his shoulder as he disappeared into the elevator. Starfire frowned at the interaction. This was nothing like the Batman she remembered. And shouldn't Batman have aged? Suddenly, a small black haired kid in red, green and yellow walked in, sitting down on the couch and glaring at Starfire.

"Whose she?" he demanded, talking as though Starfire wasn't there.

"Robin?" Starfire asked. The costume spoke vaguely of her friend, but this boy was much younger than Robin was. The boy frowned.

"Yeah, I'm Robin," he snapped. "Who are you?"

"Damian," Batgirl snapped. "Be nice to Starfire."

"Wait, isn't…"

"Damian, have you done your homework?" He frowned, squirming slightly under her glare.

"Well, no, but I **can** do my homework, so what's the point?" he retorted.

"Damian, go do your homework."

"No," he replied. "I won't and you can't make me." Batgirl rolled over closer, glaring at him.

"I can't make you do your homework, but until you do your homework, I will lock you out of the Batcave," she replied simply. He opened his mouth to protest, but she cut him off. "And there will be no dessert for a week, and I'll infect your computer with a new virus I've been working on." The young Robin scowled, slumping his shoulders and marching over to the elevator.

"Fine," he whined. "But I'm not going to like it."

"Of course not," she replied, rolling her eyes at him and turning back to Starfire, who tilted her head to the side. It was amusing how much Batgirl sounded like a… mom.

"So, Starfire, I feel like I should tell you that I don't go by Batgirl anymore," she said. "I'm Oracle now. But call me Barbara." Starfire started to nod when she noticed a golden band on Barbara's left finger. She grabbed her hand, flipping the ring over to reveal a diamond.

"Friend Batgirl, you are betrothed!" Starfire squealed.

"What?" spluttered a purple and black suited blond, who had just walked into the cave. Barbara snorted.

"I didn't know you and Tim were tying the knot," she said, watching the blond turn beet red. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"I… we're… I… he's not even...is he?" the girl stuttered. Barbara smiled.

"Steph, I'm just messing with you," she said. "Calm down. You aren't really secretly engaged are you?"

"NO!" the blond, apparently Stephanie, exclaimed. "Come on Babs, I'm way too young to be getting married!" Barbara smiled, nodding.

"Exactly. Stephanie, this is Starfire," she introduced them, noting Starfire's confused expression. Steph's the new Batgirl." Starfire was very confused by this idea, but nodded. Stephanie frowned.

"What's she doing here?"

"Why don't you go help Damian with his homework?" Barbara suggested. Stephanie scowled.

"No way in hell," she retorted. "But I get it, see you later." With that, the blond also disappeared into the elevator. Starfire turned back to Barbara.

"How is she Batgirl? And that boy is **not **Robin." Barbara smiled, laughing slightly.

"You see, Starfire, you think of Robin as a person," Barbara started to explain.

"Robin is a…"

"I'm not saying Robin doesn't exist, I'm saying that Robin is more of a… mantle I guess," Barbara explained, "Same with Batgirl and Batman. They get passed down as people grow, or…change." Starfire raised her eyebrow.

"So Robin is no longer Robin?"

"Well, when you put it that way it doesn't make any sense," Barbara laughed. "Here, let me show you something." Barbara rolled over to the wall, and pressed a button, removing a curtain over several glass cases. Starfire looked them over. There was a Batman costume, not that different than the one she'd just seen. A brightly colored outfit with short green pants and pixie boots was next. Then she lingered over a very familiar traffic-light colored outfit. She noticed Barbara smile slightly out of the corner of her eye. Next came another costume nearly identical to the first brightly colored outfit, then a third outfit with an R on the chest, nearly identical to the one she was so familiar with. Next came Batgirl's costume, black and yellow. Then there was another costume, also clearly female, but this one was black leather and had a mask that would cover the entire face. There was a third costume female in design, but the color scheme matched that of the Robin suits. Next to that was a familiar black and blue suit. Starfire's eyes widened.

"We were going to stop this from happening," Starfire whispered, eyes glued to the Nightwing costume.

"What?" Barbara asked, rolling back over from the computer. "What, Nightwing?"

"We disbanded?" Starfire asked.

"Well, yeah, but…"

"No! I must go find my friends!" Starfire turned to run out of the room only to run directly into a dark haired man in slacks, a white button up shirt and a sport coat. He caught her, and steadied her quickly, frowning.

"Star, what's wrong?" he asked. Starfire's eyes widened.

"Robin?" He smiled.

"I don't exactly go by that anymore. Call me Dick," Dick replied. Starfire turned back to the costumes along the wall.

"But…" Dick watched her, his gaze darting to the Nightwing costume.

"Barbara…" he started, turning to the red head, who crossed her arms.

"How would you have explained Damian marching in here and declaring he's Robin?" Dick groaned.

"Ah, Damian." Barbara smiled.

"Oh, and did you know Stephanie's engaged?"

"WHAT?" Then Dick realized what was going on, relaxed and laughed. "Oh, I wish I could have seen her face."

"Stephanie is Batgirl?" Starfire asked again for clarification, absorbing the situation. Nightwing's costume was here, so the Titans had disbanded. But Robin didn't seem worried about it. Both Barbara and Dick nodded. "The mean boy is Robin," both adults smiled, "Batgirl is Barbara, and you are…Nightwing?" Dick shook his head.

"I didn't think you'd recognized me…" Beep. Beep. Barbara rolled back over to the computer and pushed a button. A familiar green face appeared, along with a red and yellow masked one.

"What?" she snapped.

"Well hello," replied Beastboy.

"Is Bats in?" continued Flash. Dick walked over, resting one hand on Barbara's shoulder.

"What now?" he asked.

"What's with the monkey suit?" Beastboy asked, smiling at his own joke.

"Board meeting," Dick replied. "Now, what's up?" Beastboy turned to Flash.

"I think we're interrupting their alone time," he said.

"Garth, Wally, spit it out already," Barbara snapped.

"Oh, relax love birds," Flash replied.

"Or bats more accurately," Beastboy continued. "We just were wondering if you knew where Tim is."

"Friend Beastboy!" Starfire exclaimed, darting into view. Both faces scrunched in confusion.

"Starfire?" they asked in unison.

"Friend Beastboy, I am most pleased that you are not in a circus!" Beastboy looked really confused for a second, then laughed.

"Yep, not in a circus," he replied. "Good thing too, just think of all the teasing I'd get from Cy." Wally frowned.

"What about me?"

"You tease me anyway."

"Because you tease me first!"

"Idiots," snarled a voice before a purple haired woman appeared on screen. Her eyes widened ever so slightly.

"Hello Starfire," she said before turning her attention back to Barbara and Dick. "So have you guys seen Tim, because apparently these two can't even ask a question properly."

"We can too!" they protested.

"Then why are you arguing instead of asking?" Raven retorted. They were spared responding by another black-haired man appearing, wearing a red and black costume with a thin mask and an R on his chest.

"What're you guys doing?" he asked.

"Found him!" Beastboy exclaimed happily.

"Idiot," Raven muttered again, disappearing from view.

"See you later!" exclaimed Flash, and the screen went black.

"I swear those guys are going to blow up the Tower sometime soon," Dick said to Babs, who laughed.

"I'm just surprised they haven't already." The two adults turned to face Starfire.

"So Star, satisfied that we haven't all gone crazy?" Dick asked.

"Where is Cyborg?"

"He and Bee are on their honeymoon," Dick replied. Starfire frowned back at the Nightwing costume.

"But…"

"Star, listen," Dick said. "The Titans disbanded for a while, but we can still be friends even if we aren't on a team anymore. Plus, now there's a new group of Titans, and we all still work together."

"Where am I?" Starfire asked, frowning.

"Probably in the tower with those guys listening to Raven and Beastboy argue," Dick replied. "Not much has changed there."

"But you are…Bats?"

"Batman," Dick corrected. Starfire's eyebrows shot up.

"Are you still a Titan?" Dick laughed along with Barbara.

"Oh, that **would** be interesting," he said. "But I'm a little busy here in Gotham, between keeping Damian under control and being Batman."

"Mainly keeping Damian under control," Barbara added.

"Damian is the mean boy?" The two adults laughed.

"He can be a little mean sometimes, but he just takes a little getting used to," Dick replied.

"And some good threats."

"And he and Stephanie are… your children?"

"No," they both said simultaneously.

"Well, sort of adopted when Bruce…" Dick trailed off; Barbara nodded and put her hand on his arm.

"What are love bats?" Starfire continued to question them. The two adults shared a quick glance.

"Uh, just Gath being an idiot," Barbara offered.

"Like I said, nothing new," Dick continued. Starfire nodded.

"I'm done with my homework!" Damian announced, marching out of the elevator. "So who is she?"

"Damian," Dick started.

"I have a right to know!" the kid protested. "After all, this stuff's really my dad's so…"

"Damian, meet Starfire," Barbara butted in.

"That's not Starfire," Damian protested. "I've met Starfire before, and that's not her. Are you two really not intelligent enough to…?"

"Damian, do us all a favor and shut up," Dick interjected. Damian scowled.

"But…" he was cut off by the appearance of a gold-suited figure. "Oh. Why didn't you just tell me…?"

"Damian, go bother Stephanie," Barbara suggested.

"So I have your permission to bother Stephanie?"

"Damian, you can watch TV if you want," Dick said. "Try 1-T-5-S-J-30." Damian smiled and ran back to the elevator.

"I see you've perfected the parenting art of bribery," the gold-suited figure declared. "So what can I do for you guys today?"

"Starfire needs to go back to her own time period," Dick said. The gold suited guy turned to Starfire.

"So, Ms. Starfire, when did you come from, and how'd you get stuck with Bats here?"

"Warp had some sort of device," Starfire started.

"That warp is a nasty one sir," a small golden device above the man's head declared.

"Any chance he might still be there?" asked the gold-man.

"I would say…"

"Oh hey, was this the time with Warp in the museum?" Dick asked. Starfire nodded. "Yeah, he's still there."

"Well then, let's go!" he exclaimed. "Do we need a memory wipe?"

"Booster," Dick grumbled before glancing down at Barbara, who nodded. Starfire frowned.

"I do not wish for you to wipe my memory!" she exclaimed.

"Star, you could mess up the past if you know about the future," Dick said.

"But I remembered last time and…"

"And that isn't the future that wound up happening," Dick continued. Starfire frowned, lowered her gaze, then nodded.

"I can make it so you'll remember once you get back to this time," Booster Gold suggested. Starfire grinned. "Great. We should get going now."

"See you later then," Barbara said, holding out a hand to Starfire. Starfire leaned over to give her a big hug, and pulled Dick in too.

"I will call you when I remember," she declared happily. Light flashed again, and she and Booster Gold disappeared.

*)(*

"What did you do?" Robin demanded, shoving Warp's face into the floor. Suddenly, Starfire reappeared, unconscious, with a gold suited man.

"Who the heck are you?" Cyborg demanded, leveling his sonic cannon at him.

"Relax, I come in peace," Gold said, holding Starfire out to him. Robin grabbed her, holding her carefully upright while Raven yanked Warp to his feet.

"What happened?" he demanded. Booster raised an eyebrow for a second.

"Oh, just a side effect of time travel," he said. "Don't worry; she'll be fine, just give it a couple minutes. Now, do you mind if I take Warp here?"

"Who are you?" asked Beastboy.

"He is Booster Gold, superhero of the future!" a small gold device over Gold's head buzzed. Raven glanced at Robin, who shrugged.

"Well, if you can deal with his time traveling," Robin said. Booster nodded, grabbing Warp from Raven.

"Thank you very much, Titans," he said. "I'll talk to you… later." He smiled and disappeared.

"Well that was weird," Cyborg said. Starfire began to stir.

"Star, are you okay?" Robin asked. She opened her eyes, blinking a couple times.

"ROBIN!" she exclaimed, pulling him into a tight hug.


End file.
